Asmall question:hundreds of years ago, if a person sacrificed his sleep, forgot his family, overlooked his food, disregarded all wit and humour, people called him a saint. If someone goes through this rigour now, what would you call him? Just think......................Yeah, you are right. He is called an IT professional. The IT man (or shall we call him ‘itian’?) constitutes his own class. He forgets the world, gets absorbed to his task and then finds himself as an alien among his family-members and friends (non-'itians', of course). There are number of witty incidents about 'itians' but we would bring here just a small episode to cheer you up.

The fresh graduates from the institutes of technology have better openings now. The job market for 'itians' has opened up like it did never before. It has consequently raised high expectations – sometimes to a ridiculous extent. Youngsters fresh from college and armed with a degree in IT but with little experience and few ideas of the job-market barge into well-reputed companies with exceptionally tall expectations. Their role model is not any ordinary technician or engineer but luminaries who created their own fortunes, like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

In the backdrop of such a setting, a fellow holding a degree in Information Technology and with a fairly high opinion about himself wanted to try his luck for the job of a Programmer in a reputed IT company. Brimming with confidence, he looked straight in the eyes of the HRD Chief. The interview went on something like this: “And what starting salary would you be looking for?” asked the HRD man.“Somewhere in the vicinity of Rs 12 to Rs 15 lac per annum, depending on the fringe benefits you offer,” was the confident response from the young technocrat.“Well, and what would you say to a package comprising of fully furnished three-bedroom flat, chauffeur driven luxury car, two-week paid leave, six-week vacation, 5-day working week, full medical reimbursement for you and your dependents, and of course a 50% contribution to your retirement fund’, enquired the Interviewer.The young man was startled, sat up straight and exclaimed in disbelief: “Wow! Are you joking?”“Yes, I’m”, “but tell me, who started it?”

Author : Syed Zafar Ahmad

Designation:Executive EditorBio:A freelancer with a flair for experimenting with innovative technology and electronic gadgets that could enrich the life of a modern common man, and a consultant in issues touching every-day life of a computer suave professional.